No ban on cages in Wales

The final version of the Welsh Code of Practice for the Welfare of Gamebirds Reared for Sporting Purposes has now been laid before the National Assembly for Wales afterthe Welsh Assembly Government Legal Services confirmed that an
outright ban on the use of cages could not be introduced through a Code of Practice; an outright ban can only be introduced through legislation.

The final version of the Code settled on option two: Barren raised cages for breeding pheasants and small barren cages for breeding partridges should not be used. All laying systems used for the housing of birds should be designed and managed to ensure the welfare of the birds. Any systems should be appropriately enriched. This falls short of an outright ban on laying cage units but requires cages to be enriched ensuring an approach consistent with the Code in England.

The rest of this article appears in 27th October issue of Shooting Times.

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